Article holding jewelry apparatus and process

ABSTRACT

A jewelry apparatus and process for holding an article to a person&#39;s clothing. A rare earth magnet is attached to one side of a piece of jewelry and connected with a chain or cord to a second rare earth magnet. The two magnets are magnetically held together through a person&#39;s clothing allowing eyeglasses or another article to be removably hung on the chain or cord.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a piece of jewelry which is attached to a person's clothing utilizing permanent magnets and especially to a jewelry piece for holding an article, such as a pair of glasses, to a person's clothing.

In the past, it has been common to hold eyeglasses which are not worn all of the time, such as reading glasses, in a coat pocket or in a shirt pocket in shirts having pockets or in a purse. Other eyeglasses or articles, such as sunglasses or pens, are also stored when not in use in coat pockets or in purses or the like. However, eyeglasses as well as pens and other items are frequently lost when they fall out of pockets. To combat this problem, it has been suggested to attach each end of a cord to each of the eyeglass temples so that the glasses may be extended around the head and neck of the individual. The eyeglasses can then hang from around the neck when not in use. Thus, reading glasses held in the manner, are always hanging from around an individual's neck when not in use.

Jewelry of all types have been attached to people's clothing and have decorative surfaces, such as an enameled surface or with semi-precious gems and the like. Jewelry, such as broaches and tie tacks are frequently pinned to the clothing. Most of these items necessitate pushing a pin or prong into the clothing. The present invention is directed towards attaching a jewelry member to a person's clothing without the use of pins or prongs punching through the clothing or the use of strong spring clamps.

It has also been suggested in the past to provide a magnetic clasp for attaching a necklace which clasp uses a pair of magnets mounted to attach together for holding a necklace around a person's neck. This type of clasp typically uses an alnico (aluminum-nickel-cobalt) type magnet which can be easily pulled apart even when the magnets are connected directly together.

The present invention uses rare earth magnets for attaching items to a person's clothing with the clothing in between the two permanent magnets. These magnets are many times stronger than either alnico, ceramic or ferrite type magnets and thus can tightly hold a piece of jewelry to clothing while supporting an article.

The present invention allows a piece of jewelry to be attached to a person's clothing without having to punch holes in the clothing while acting as an article holder for holding a pair of eyeglasses or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A process for holding an article to a person's clothing includes the steps of selecting a clothing attaching member having an elongated flexible member, such as a chain or cord, having two end portions and having one end portion clamped with a jewelry member having an ornamental design on one side thereof and a magnetic holding cup on the second side thereof. The magnetic holding cup has a permanent magnet mounted therein with a first magnet polarity side facing outward. The flexible chain or cord has the other end thereof clamped to a second magnet holding cup having a permanent magnet mounted therein with a second polarity side facing outward whereby the jewelry member is flexibly connected to the second magnet holding cup. The selected clothing attaching member is attached to a person's clothing with the first and second magnets placed on opposite sides of the clothing adjacent each other to magnetically hold the first and second magnets together to a person's clothes with the flexible chain or cord extending around the edge of the piece of clothing. An article, such as a pair of eyeglasses, pen or the like, is then removably attached to the chain or cord connecting the jewelry member and the second magnet holding cup. The jewelry member is thus attached to a person's clothing and an article removably supported thereon.

The selected apparatus first and second magnetic holding cups each has a hollow clamp extending therefrom, which clamp has a side opening in the side thereof. The side opening has a bridge thereacross of a malleable metal which is clamped onto the end of the connecting chain. The jewelry member can have any type of decoration desired including a semiprecious stone mounted thereon. The magnets are advantageously of the newer rare earth magnets, such as neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) which provides a substantially stronger magnetic field for holding the jewelry apparatus through clothing without the jewelry apparatus coming loose.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the article holding jewelry of the present invention attached to a man's tie and holding a pair of eyeglasses;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the article holding jewelry of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the article holding jewelry of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the magnets connected together;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the article holding jewelry of FIGS. 1 through 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective of the article holding jewelry of FIGS. 1 through 4 illustrating the chain clamp; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through the article holding jewelry of FIGS. 1 through 5 to a piece of clothing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, an article holding piece of jewelry 10 is illustrated attached to a tie 11 and to a shirt 12. The article holding member 12 has a jewelry member 13 which has a decorative face 14 which may be, for instance, a semi-precious or precious stone or an enameled surface or any decorative surface positioned on a base 15. A flexible elongated member 16 may be a jewelry type chain, cord or the like which is attached to the jewelry piece 13 and extends around the tie 11. An article 17, such as a pair of eyeglasses, is shown having one of the temples 18 suspended over the chain 16 to thereby support the glasses 17 when not in use by an individual.

Referring to FIGS. 2 through 6, the article holding jewelry 10 is more clearly seen having the jewelry member 13 having a decorative face 14 placed on a base 15. The base 15 is attached to a magnet holding cup 20 having a magnet 21 mounted therein. The magnet 21 is a rare earth magnet, such as a neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet or a samarium-cobalt bracket (SmCo) magnet. This type of magnet provides a substantially stronger magnetic field than prior alnico, ceramic or ferrite type magnets. The magnet holding cup has a clamp 22 extending therefrom which has a hollow area 23, as seen in FIG. 5, for the insertion of one end of the chain 16. The clamp 22 has an opening 24 in the side thereof with a metal bridge 25 extending thereacross, which metal bridge may be of a malleable metal for clamping down on the end of the chain 16 for attaching the chain 16 to the magnet holding cup 20 and jewelry member 13. The magnet holding cup 20 is made of a non-ferric or non-magnetic material.

A second magnetic cup 26 has a second rare earth magnet 27 mounted therein. The magnet holding cup 26 has a clamp 28 extending therefrom having a hollow area 30 extending thereinto for inserting the other end of the chain 16 thereinto. The clamp 28 has a side opening 31 thereinto and a malleable metal bridge 32 thereacross which can be clamped onto the end of the chain 16 extending into the clamp 28.

The magnets 21 and 27 are mounted in their respective magnet holding cups 20 and 26 with the open faces of the magnets being of opposite polarity to each other so that when the magnets are brought together they will be attracted to each other, as seen in FIG. 3. The magnets are held together with such great strength when using rare earth magnets that they are difficult to remove from each other. The magnets are disengaged by sliding sideways one of the magnets from the other. The strength of the magnets however allows them to clamp securely onto a piece of clothing, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6.

FIG. 6 shows the magnet holding cup 26 having the magnet 27 attached therein with an adhesive 29 and placed on one side of a piece of clothing fabric 33. The magnet 21 is shown attached within the magnet holding cup 20 with an adhesive 34 and placed on the other side of the cloth 33. In FIG. 6 the magnet holding cup 20 can be seen as part of or attached to the base member 14 which has the jewelry or decorative face 14 thereon.

In operation, the article holding jewelry member 10 can have the magnets separated, as shown in FIG. 4, and the elongated flexible member 16 wrapped around a piece of clothing, such as a tie or a person's shirt pocket or the collar of a blouse or any other clothing portion desired. The magnets are positioned adjacent each other or aligned with the clothing cloth inbetween, as shown in FIG. 6. The strong force of the rare earth magnets clamps the magnets together onto the cloth since the open face of each magnet is of opposite polarity from the other to give a firm hold upon the person's clothing. An article, such as a pair of eyeglasses or a pen or the like, can then be attached to the flexible chain 16 where it can be easily removed and used as desired. Thus, a decorative piece of jewelry provides a utilitarian feature for temporarily holding an article, such as the eyeglasses, without the jewelry having to be pinned or otherwise puncturing the fabric of the clothing.

It should be clear at this point that an article holding jewelry apparatus has been provided as well as a process for using the article holding jewelry apparatus and supporting an article, such as eyeglasses therewith. However, the present invention is not to be construed as limited to the forms shown, which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. 

1. Article holding jewelry apparatus comprising: an elongated flexible member having two end portions; a jewelry member having an ornamental surface on one side thereof and having a first magnetic holding cup on a second side thereof, said magnetic holding cup having a permanent magnet mounted therein with a first polarity side facing outward and said jewelry member having a clamp having one end of said elongated flexible member clamped therein; a second magnet holding cup has a second permanent magnet mounted therein with a second polarity side facing outward and has a clamp having the other end of said elongated flexible member clamped therein thereby flexible connecting said jewelry member and said second magnet holding cup together; whereby a jewelry member can be attached to clothing with said first and second magnets attached on either side of a piece of clothing with a decorative surface being displayed on the clothing while allowing an article to be held to said clothing on said elongated flexible member.
 2. The article holding jewelry apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said jewelry member clamp has a malleable metal section clamped onto one end of said elongated flexible member.
 3. The article holding jewelry apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said second magnet holding cup clamp has a malleable metal section clamped onto the other end of said elongated flexible member.
 4. The article holding jewelry apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which said elongated flexible member is a metal jewelry chain.
 5. The article holding jewelry apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which said elongated flexible member is a flexible cord.
 6. The article holding jewelry apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said first and second magnet holding cup clamps each has an opening in one side thereof with malleable metal bridge extending there across pressed onto said elongated flexible member.
 7. The article holding jewelry apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said first and second magnets are rare earth magnets.
 8. A process for holding an article to a person's clothing comprising the steps of: selecting a clothing attaching member having an elongated flexible member having two ends, one end thereof being clamped to a jewelry member having a decorative surface on one side thereof and having a first magnet holding cup on a second side thereof, said magnetic holding cup having a permanent magnet mounted therein with a first polarity side facing outward, said elongated flexible member other end being clamped to a second magnet holding cup having a second permanent magnet mounted therein with a second polarity side facing outward therefrom to flexibly connect said jewelry member and said second magnet holding cup together; removably attaching said clothing attaching member to a person's clothing with said first and second magnets placed on opposite sides of the clothing adjacent each other to magnetically hold said first and second magnets to a person's clothing; and removably attaching an article to said elongated flexible member; whereby a jewelry member is removably attached to a person's clothing and an article removably supported thereon. 